


Getting Through the Night

by mackenziemchale



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Love, Nightmare, Post S2, pre S3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24459487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mackenziemchale/pseuds/mackenziemchale
Summary: She’s quiet for a minute, trying to process the fact that she was in fact at home with Will and not in a war zone where bullets were constantly being fired or on the ground at a protest nearing death. It was all a dream.
Relationships: Will McAvoy/MacKenzie McHale
Comments: 10
Kudos: 19





	Getting Through the Night

_ Gunshots ring out all around her, Mackenzie watches in horror as men murder each other in cold blood. _

_ It was a desolate day, the cloudy grey skies, fog, and overall darkness that surrounded her matched the mood of what was taking place not five feet from her. _

_ BOOM. _

_ A bomb detonating somewhere off in the distance. She covers her ears from the deafening sound. Even far away it still sounded like it was going off right next to her.  _

_ The sounds of both gunshots and bombs going off were a constant, she was suprised she hadn’t lost her hearing yet.  _

Mac tosses and turns in bed and suddenly her dream, which felt as real as the day she experienced all of this, shifts and takes a sharp left turn.

_ It all happened so fast, one minute she was covering the Shiite protest and the next she was on the ground struggling to breathe.  _

_ Mac never even saw the face of the person who came up and stabbed her in the stomach, it happened in a split second and the person was gone. _

_ “Someone get the medics now!” She could hear Jim shout. _

_ Everything around her was spinning and she could still hear the shouts of the protesters and gunshots in the distance.  _

_ The pain was excruciating and Mackenzie could tell she was losing more and more blood by the second.  _

_ “Don’t worry Mac,” Jim’s voice appears closer to her as he kneels down next to her, “we’re going to get you out of here everything is going to be fine. You’re gonna be fine.” _

_ All she can do is nod as she begins to struggle to keep her eyes open. The world around her was continuing to spin faster and faster. Her eyes kept falling closed before jerking open again as she fought to stay conscious. _

_ “C’mon Mac keep your eyes open, just a little longer” She could feel Jim holding her hand, giving her an encouraging squeeze.  _

_ This was it wasn’t it? Mackenzie sent herself and Jim to the Middle East to try to forget about Will only to end up dead. At least then Will wouldn’t have to deal with her constant emails or voicemails anymore. She’d be just a memory. One that months after her funeral would fade into the back of his mind as he moved on and married someone else and shared his life with them.  _

_ Will. Everyday she tried to forget him but it never worked. If this was it then she’d never see his handsome face or stare into his gorgeous blue eyes again. She’d never get the chance to be held in his oh so tight embrace or let the scent of his cologne, a scent she could never get enough of, fill her nostrils. Most importantly, she’d never get the chance to truly explain everything that happened to him. To actually look him in the eyes and apologize for breaking his heart, for breaking him.  _

_ “Billy…” Mackenzie trails off just as everything goes black.  _

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The tossing and turning of his fiancée next to him is enough to grab Will’s attention. It isn’t until she unconsciously hits his side with one of her hands that he fully wakes up and turns on the lamp next to their bed. 

Will turns to Mac who was still tossing around, clearly in a state of distress. 

Carefully, he moves over next to her, receiving a blow to the stomach as he does so. 

“Ow…” he whispers quietly and takes a moment for the brief pain to pass. 

Grabbing her hand, he gently holds it so she’d stop hitting him as he tries to quickly come up with the best way to wake her without causing her more stress. 

“Mackenzie…” Will says softly and decides to gently shake her. He didn’t know what else to do, he just wanted to help her out of this. 

Several minutes and failed attempts later, Mac’s eyes fly open and a gasp comes from her. Her other hand automatically over to her stomach, the pain of the stab seeming to linger.

“Hey, hey you’re alright,” Will’s tired but calming voice fills her ears as she pants hard.

“Where… where am I?” 

“You’re at home in bed with me, your fiancé. We’re in Manhattan and you’re safe, I promise” he assures as he lets go of the hand he had been holding and notices where the other was. Will could only assume from the placement that she had a nightmare about her time in Islamabad.

She’s quiet for a minute, trying to process the fact that she was in fact at home with Will and not in a war zone where bullets were constantly being fired or on the ground at a protest nearing death. It was all a dream. 

As her heart begins to slow and her breathing begins to return to normal, Mac begins to sit up, “I’m sorry I woke you.”

Will follows along with her, sitting up as well, “it’s alright…” he pauses as he watches her confirm that her scar was just a scar and not an open wound bleeding profusely. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Mac pulls down the grey tank top she had on, “it was a nightmare about when I was in Islamabad. It started off with sounds of gunshots and bombs going off… then it took a turn to when I got stabbed and I was laying on the ground thinking I was going to die.”

He places a hand on her thigh, “I’m sorry.”

She shakes her head, “don’t be, I sent myself there.”

There’s a little bit of silence before Will says, “you know when I found out that you had been stabbed I almost flew to Islamabad to be by your side.”

She looks up from the spot on their comforter she had been staring at and over at him, “I would’ve killed you from my hospital bed.”

“You were supposed to find that romantic!”

Mac laughs, “yeah, my ex-boyfriend flies to a war zone to see me only to get himself hurt. That’s not exactly what I’d call romantic McAvoy.”

“Who says I would’ve gotten hurt?” He protests.

“It was a war zone, you very well could’ve and if not then like I said I would’ve done it myself for how stupid it would’ve been.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I didn’t come then.”

She reaches over for his hand and intertwines their fingers, “the fact that you wanted to risk your life to see me does mean a lot, but I’m glad you didn’t, I prefer my fiancé in one piece.” She then scoots closer, leans over, and presses a kiss to his cheek.

A smile comes to his face and he squeezes her hand gently, “how often do you have those dreams?”

They had only gotten engaged a little over a month ago and started living together at his place for the time being once she moved all her things in. This was the first time she had a dream about her time in Islamabad, but from what he understood she did have some PTSD from it so it made sense. 

“Not as often as I used to, as time goes by I process it more and it doesn’t seem to affect me as much… but the dreams come around every now and then and I know they’ll probably never go away completely. Each time they still feel as real as when I was experiencing the events.”

He nods and gently rubs a thumb across her knuckles, “I’m sorry that they still happen from time to time and you have to experience some of it all over again.”

Mac shrugs, “it’s alright, I can handle it. I’ve gotten this far haven’t I?”

“You’re the strongest person I know,” Will confirms.

That makes her smile a little and say a quiet thank you. She didn’t know if she agreed with that, she just learned to live with what she went through and not let it hold her down. Facing it all head on seemed better than bottling it all up inside until one day it exploded. 

“But you’re doing okay now?” He questions.

Mackenzie nods, “well, I don’t feel like going back to sleep any time soon but yeah I’m doing alright.”

Will suddenly gets out of bed without a word causing her to curiously watch.

“What are you doing?” She questions 

Turning, he offers a hand “well, if you don’t want to sleep then I think I have a solution for that.”

She groans a little, “but Billy, I really don’t want to get out of bed,” she complains and pulls up the blankets on her lap more.

Will walks over to her side of the bed, “if I give you a piggyback ride will that convince you?”

Her eyes light up at that suggestion, causing her to throw the blankets off of her and nod happily. 

He shakes his head as he sits down on the bed and allows her to wrap her legs around his torso and her arms around his shoulders. 

A groan comes from him as he gets up, “I’m getting too old for this.”

“Oh come on old man, you got this” she pesters and tightens legs around him.

Will begins carrying her out of their bedroom and toward the kitchen, hoping his little idea would make her night a little better and make it easier for her to get back to sleep. 

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“What exactly are we doing in our kitchen at two in the morning?” Mac asks as Will carefully sets her down on one of the countertops after turning on the light.

“You’ll see.”

He then goes over to the fridge and begins to open up the vegetable drawer. As he’s doing this, Mackenzie tries to peak over his shoulder as her confusion continues. 

It’s a second later when he emerges from the fridge holding a tub of cookie dough.

Her eyes go wide, “hey is that my secret stash?!” Mac thought she had hidden it well enough that he couldn’t see the pound of cookie dough she’d sometimes snack on late at night. At least that was her hope, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t see it?” Will questions as he walks over to the counter she was sitting on after grabbing two spoons for them. 

“Well… I was hoping you’d just forget it was there if you did see it.”

Will smiles as he sets the tub and two spoons down next to her, “don’t worry Miss. McHale, I won’t spill your secret to anyone.”

“You better not or I’ll have your ass McAvoy” she teases and watches as he begins to pull out two wine glasses from a cabinet.

“You already do, I clearly stated that you own me when I proposed and that includes my ass.” Will says as he grabs a bottle of wine from the cooler. 

A giggle comes from her at that, “so wine and cookie dough? That’s your solution?”

“Are you questioning my methods?” He asks as he brings over the glasses and begins pouring hers first.

Accepting the wine when he hands it over she takes a sip right away, “mm no, but I usually don’t like to get drunk at two in the morning anymore unless it‘s for a good reason. My twenties have been over for a long time.”

“Are you sure? Because you don’t look a day over twenty five.”

Mackenzie rolls her eyes as she grabs the cookie dough tub, “shut up.”

Will sips on his wine and watches as she starts digging into the cookie dough. He decides to stay standing across from her, afraid that he’d pull something trying to climb on the counter.

It’s not until she’s taken several scoops of cookie dough for her to even notice that he hadn’t joined her side and wasn’t eating any of it either. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

He shrugs, taking another sip of his wine, “I’m having fun watching you.”

“Oh I’m  _ sure  _ watching me eat my weight in cookie dough is real fun.”

Will smiles and places his wine a little ways away from her so it wouldn’t accidentally get knocked over. He brings her glass next to his and steps back in front of her, “it just reminds me that I love you. There’s no one else I’d sit here with at two in the morning as they eat spoonfuls of cookie dough and drink wine.”

She scrunches up her nose, “you’re so sappy sometimes.” Mac then sets the spoon in the tub and puts that aside too before grabbing her fiancé. Pulling him between her legs, she brings a hand up to his disheveled hair and gives him a smile as she fixes it, “and you’re lucky that I love it.”

“You better or you’re marrying the wrong guy,” Will replies as he places both hands on her hips.

Mackenzie’s hand moves from his hair to rest on his cheek and brings her other hand up as well, now cupping his cheeks, “who would’ve thought hardass McAvoy has a soft side?”

“You’re one of the few who know.”

Her demeanor changes at that and she gives him a glare, a sudden strike of jealousy hitting her at those words, “who else knows?” she questions.

Will holds back a laugh at her sudden jealousy, he couldn’t help but like that she was jealous of someone else knowing he wasn’t the complete and total hardass everyone saw on television. “Jealous are we?”

“Will...”

She rarely called him Will outside of work anymore, preferring to use his nickname. Even at work she used his nickname more often than his name because everyone knew about it anyway. Usually she called him Will or sometimes by his full name as a way of scolding him. Other times it would come out when she was mad at him, especially when they fought. Otherwise, he was strictly called by his nickname.

The use of his name causes a brow raise, but he still couldn’t help but enjoy teasing her. “I don’t know, should I tell you?”

Mackenzie’s hands leave his face and she crosses her arms, “if you don’t then I’m calling off the wedding.”

That causes him to laugh this time, unable to hold it back. “You know I’m just messing around with you honey. No need to go and cancel a wedding you’ve been waiting who knows how long for.”

“Who are the others?”

“I was referring to everyone in the bullpen. We don’t exactly keep our flirting or PDA a secret.”

Ever since their engagement, they flirted all of the time and expressed a fair amount of PDA. They held hands anytime they were together, kissed each other often, and flirted so much that some were disgusted by it. Others found it sweet. Overall though, everyone in the bullpen was happy for them that after years of fighting and yearning for each other they were finally together.

Mac lets go of a breath she had been holding. She couldn’t lie, she expected Nina Howard to be a name that came out of his mouth. Why he bothered dating her was still something Mac couldn’t wrap her brain around. 

“You’re such a shit sometimes.”

“Ahh,” Will says and leans down so that he was only inches away from her face, “but you love me anyway.”

Her hands return to where they had been before on his cheeks and she nods, “I do, I really do.” Mac brings his lips to hers and kisses him slow, savoring every bit of the kiss.

They stay there for a couple minutes, her hands running through his hair while one of his moves up her thigh. He breaks the kiss for a moment, catching his breath before asking, “do you want…”

It didn’t take more than those three words for her to know what he was asking. She shakes her head, “not tonight.”

Will nods and begins to pull away to grab his still mostly full glass of wine. Before he could even make it a step away from her, he was being pulled back.

“Ah ah ah where are you going?”

“My wine-”

“I said no but that doesn’t mean I was done with you,” Mac says and brings him right back in front of her. Pulling him between her legs again, she wraps them tight around him so he can’t even try to move though she knew he wouldn’t. 

“Yes ma’am,” he obeys and lets her pull him in for more kissing. There were no complaints from him, Will could go on kissing her for hours. Her lips were soft and smooth, every time he kissed her it was like he was in heaven. He especially liked when she’d wear the vanilla flavored lip balm that she almost always wore, the taste was the best out of all her lip products and one he actually enjoyed. Unlike some lipsticks she would wear that had a horrible taste.

This time she tasted like the cookie dough and red wine and he actually really enjoyed how it tasted so it only made him want to kiss her longer.

It’s several more minutes before they break apart again, this time their foreheads were pressed together as they both caught their breath.

“You know, I never would’ve thought cookie dough and red wine would make a good flavor combination but I guess you learn something new everyday,” he chuckles.

Mac laughs too, “glad I could help you learn something new darling.”

Will brushes his fingers along her side slowly as they stay like this for a little longer, “why don’t we drink the rest of the wine and eat some more cookie dough and try to go back to bed?” He suggests.

“Okay… but only if you carry me back to bed.” She smiles as her own fingers trace along his chest.

“I think that can be arranged, but it’ll cost you.”

“What’s your price?”

“One more kiss” he insists.

Mac smiles again and seals the deal with one final kiss before breaking away. She then grabs his wine glass and hands it over before taking her own.

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Mackenzie and Will settle down in bed about fifteen minutes after her last kiss to him. While eating their cookie dough, which Mac insisted on feeding him, and drinking their wine, Will did what he could to keep her mind off of her nightmare. That was why he brought her out of their room and brought out the treats, a way to make her night better after the horrible dream she had. 

They not only ate and drank, but also talked and laughed. Will would make a terrible joke, but it would make her start giggling which he adored so it led to more jokes. 

Mac at one point asked if he would still love her if one day they woke up and she was suddenly the same size as a pencil. That made him laugh and insist that he would and he’d carry her around in his pocket. That question was when he knew the alcohol was beginning to settle in. They hadn’t had much but it was late and she was tired which was always a good combination for outrageous and silly questions.

Now the two were laying together in bed, laying right next to each other on their backs. Will’s arm was around her and they both were staring up at the ceiling.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep,” Mackenzie says softly, breaking their shared silence.

“I’ll be right here until you do, I won’t until I know you’ve fallen asleep” he insists.

Mac brings his hand, which was resting over her own and holding it, up to her lips and kisses it gently. “That’s very sweet of you honey, but I think one of us needs to sleep.”

A sigh comes from beside him at that, “Mackenzie…”

“Billy…”

He understood why she didn’t want to go back to sleep with the chance of another dream terrorizing her, but he didn’t want to just leave her awake all night. He could sleep when he was dead but right now he wanted to be there for her.

“What can I do for you? I don’t want to just go to sleep while you’re lying here afraid to.”

Mac shrugs, “in all honesty, I’m not sure” it wasn’t like she wasn’t exhausted and ready to go back to sleep but the thought of experiencing another nightmare was enough to keep her awake. The two she had to begin with were incredibly realistic and she did not like being brought back to those times, her stabbing in particular.

“What if we just stay up all night? We’ll do it together that way I don’t feel bad for going to sleep while you stay awake and you don’t have to stay awake by yourself,” Will suggests.

“And how do you propose we do that?” She questions and glances over at him.

“Well we could put on a movie to start, maybe play some games after, I could go grab the cookie dough and wine and we’ll have more of that. Anything you want.”

Mac smiles at the suggestion of more cookie dough and wine, she had really enjoyed their late night snacking. She nods, “okay, I think I’d like that. Can we put on  _ Mary Poppins _ for the movie?”

He nods, “if  _ Mary Poppins  _ is what you want to watch dear, then  _ Mary Poppins  _ it is.”

Mac thanks Will by giving him a big kiss on the cheek before pulling away and letting him get the movie pulled up.

Five or so minutes later and the two are settled again, this time sitting up instead of laying down. Mackenzie had her head resting down on his shoulder and a hand resting on his chest while he held an arm around her own shoulders.

They don’t do a whole lot of chatting throughout the movie but instead gave each other little signs that the other was still awake. As Will usually liked to do, he traced his fingers along her back lightly while enjoying the Disney classic. Mac on the other hand switched between occasionally rubbing her hand on his chest and tracing her fingers too. Alongside that, she would place kisses on his chest here and there.

It’s about an hour into the movie when Will notices that her little signs had stopped. Maybe she was sucked into the movie and was focusing all of her attention on that. He couldn’t blame her, it was a delightful and adorable movie. 

Will moves his head and looks down at where she had been resting for the last hour only to find her eyes to be closed and that she had most definitely fallen right back to sleep.

At first, he considers waking her since she had been afraid to go back to sleep to begin with. However, after some consideration he decides it best not to and to just let her rest, she needed it more than anybody. 

Several minutes later, Will lays back down next to his sleeping fiancée and carefully scoots in behind her. The television was now off, the room was pitch black and the only sounds that could be heard were the fan running by their bed and the bed from Will moving closer to Mac. She was resting on her side so he brings one arm around her torso and pulls her a little closer to him. 

He kisses the back of her shoulder gently, “goodnight Mackenzie… I love you,” he whispers.

Just as he’s closing his eyes, Mac shifts in the bed and instead of having her back pressed up against him she turns so that they were facing each other. She instinctively moves her face to the crook of his neck and slides an arm around his torso, making her hold tight as she presses up against him.

“I love you too” Mac murmurs tiredly before drifting back off into a peaceful sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I think it would’ve been nice to see something along the lines of this fic in the show. They never really talked about the PTSD both Mac & Jim most likely have from being embedded. Since we never saw that I decided why not give it a go?
> 
> Of course, as I say every time, feel free to leave any feedback because it’s always appreciated. Don’t forget to leave a kudos too if you enjoyed this! Thank you for taking the time to read my work. Until next time 💜


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